way to celebrate the season right from your home. there's the christmas boobsie. goodness. it's a beer koozie with breasts. a concept that debuted at the holiday wonderland that is hooter's and is available at boobsie.com. if you're looking for an appropriate gift for your boss or your child's teacher, no need to thank me. i'm here to help. it's part of my mission. so when you gather with your friends and family, remember to appreciate what you have and give to those less fortunate because every time a bell rings, a stripper gets her wings. it is, indeed, a wonderful life on the "ridiculist."wings. it is, indeed, a wonderful life. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. what made him snap? we're learning more about the mass gunman who opened fire in a shopping mall. barrelling towards the fiscal cliff.

and what a concert, superstars for sandy relief, some of the greatest music performers on stage for last night's all-star benefit concert. >> did you stay up? >> i knew it happening. >> there is sir paul mccarthy playing with nirvana. good morning. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. up first, new information about the 22-year-old sandwich shop worker who killed two people and critically wounded a teenager at a suburban portland mall. friends say jacob roberts was a happy young man until about a week ago when he quit his job and told his ex-girlfriend he was moving to hawaii. we are also learning more about the three people that robert shot. a dedicated hospice nurse, a former radio executive, remembered as a mentor and a jewelrymaker, and a 15-year-old girl who took a bullet to the chest but is expected to

survive. dan simon is live from suburban portland. what else are you finding out about jacob roberts? you know, everybody is questioning what was the motive here? >> good morning. investigators have not found anything in terms of a violent history or criminal past, but if you look at his facebook page, you will see a slogan that said "follow your dreams" with the word canceled stamped over it. then the reports that he was telling friends that he inherited a bunch of money and was planning to move to hawaii, nothing of which is grounded in truth. still everyone seems so genuinely shocked that the kid they remember as a popular student in high school could be capable of committing such an atrocity. here's what his ex-girlfriend told abc. >> this is the last thing i would have ever expected. especially from him.

he was just too sweet. never mean to anybody. >> reporter: we are getting a better sense of the two people he killed. 45-year-old steven forsythe, father of two, a respected executive, and 42-year-old cindy yule. >> cindy was an amazing hospice nurse. she helped others transition to the end of life. her family never got to say good-bye. >> for all the misery that was created in such a short pan of time here at mall, investigators say it could have been so much worse had the women not jammed during the attack. they say the ar-15 rifle used got stuck at one point and

that's the reason why more people weren't shot. zoraida? >> the response time was so fast as well. the 15-year-old girl, she's still in stable condition? >> she is in stable condition. her family has put up a facebook page. they have been updating people. she seems like she's going to survive. she's somebody who has escaped death twice. there was an incident apparently last year where her family was struck by a drunken driver, and she was injured but survived that attack or survived that incident. it's pretty crazy, but she seems to be doing well in the hospital. >> seems like a tough little lady. dan simon, thank you. the other big story today, getting a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff is looking more and more like it might take a christmas miracle. president obama and congressional republicans seem to be digging in on the issue of taxes right now. but a new "wall street journal"/nbc poll shows an overwhelming majority of americans are siding with the

president. of the republicans polled, we're seeing a big shift a majority favoring compromise. white house correspondent brianna keilar is following this informatio negotiation, the ups and down. i'm not sure the polls matter as much as the members on both sides of the aisle. >> the good news is they are still talking, the white house and the speaker's office. president obama and the speaker have spoken. the staff is talking. when you listen to how they're characterizing conversations, it's not that great. from sunday's conversation that the speaker had with the president, he called that cordial. he just said that his conversation on tuesday night with the president was deliberate and frank. both the speaker and the white house have been asked about reports that actually that phone call was intense. that's something that jay carney did not dispute. >> simply say we confirm the

call. the -- you know, one in a series of conversations as well as a meeting as you know recently that the president had with a speaker. armed towards the effort of trying to find some common ground on this important issue. >> i would say it was tense. there were offered exchanged back and forth yesterday. you know, the president and i had a frank conversation about just how far apart we are. >> and they are pretty far apart, john. the white house, the president, still demanding that income tax rates on earnings more than $250,000 go up. republicans saying no to that. and accusing the white house of not putting out specifics when it comes to spending cuts and entitlement reforms. >> this seems to be a fairly big shift in tone, as you said from cordial to frank and deliberate that seems like a dirty word

there. what are we talking about an absolute drop-dead time to get a deal done? the speaker said members should be prepared to stay until christmas eve. >> christmas is an important time. it's a several-day process to take a deal and make it into legislative language, then it takes a few days for this to be introduced in congress to work its way through. it's hard to tell just how alarming this characterization, this kind of bad shift in the characterization of the phone calls is. if it's just public posturing, which we often see, perhaps it's not so alarming. perhaps there's sill time. we'll know in a week if it was really terrible and a sign that they were far apart and unable to find common ground. one reason that it is alarming, we heard from the chairman of the fed, ben bernanke, he said already this impasse is hurting the economy. so that's certainly a reason for alarm. >> brianna keilar, great to see

you. seven minutes past the hour. north korea may not have full control of thatorbit. the satellite was launched yesterday. this is video from north korean television claiming to be from the control room in north korea as the rocket blasted off. u.s. officials say that ground control has yet to send a key radio control to the satellite. secretary of state hillary clinton will testify next week about the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in bengahzi. a report on the review is expected to be released before clinton testifies, one week from today. two men from new mexico have reportedly been arrested in a bizarre murder-for-hire plot. police say one of their targets was justin bieber.

krqe says the two were allegedly plotting to kidnap, castrate and kill four people, including two witnesses to a crime committed by a murdered convict who one met in prison along with bieber and his bodyguard. how bizarre is that? >> sounds crazy. honda recalling more than 800,000 minivans and suvs because of an emission defect. it effects 318,000 odyssey minivans in 2003 and 2004 and 2559 put suvs made in 2003 and 24 and also 230 acura mdx suv's made from 2003 to 2006. the defect allows owners to remove the keys from the ignition before putting the car into park which could be a very bad thing. honda recalled close to 400,000 cars for the same issue back in

2010. >> do you know how often i have that happen where i'm trying to take -- it's crazy, right? you're wondering who would do that? i have done that. try to take the key out. >> you're that person. >> this moment of zen brought to you by the fcc. starting today, you can say good-bye to excessively loud tv commercials. >> awesome. >> the fcc is barring them saying the ads must maintain the same average volume as the shows they sponsor. no doubt this news should make a lot of tv viewers happy. makes me thrilled. i thought i was crazy because the volume kept going up. i'm like what's wrong? now it's on purpose. >> the fcc says loud commercials have been a top complaint since 2002 when it's consumer tip line began reporting them. were you part of that? >> no. i thought i was nuts for the longest time. ten minutes after the hour. one of the greatest gatherings of musical talent ever on stage last night for a worthy cause.

the 12/12/12 concert for sandy. >> turn the power down. we went right on with the show. ♪ >> that long island's own billy joel with a little rewrite of his iconic song miami 2017. he sounds great. the show featured bruce springsteen. the jersey shore's own with the e. street band, also the rolling stones, the who, paul mccartney. who wasn't there? >> there are estimates 2 billion people watched. the show already raised $30 million in ticket sales to help end the misery caused by the storm. >> that's great. nice of them to donate talent and time like that. autopsy results expected today in the case of the nurse who committed suicide after a radio show pranked the hospital

where the duchess of cambridge was being treated. and disturbing new video of a homeless mentally challenged man knocked out. that video with you posted on facebook. we'll have those stories and much more after this quick break. [ dylan ] this is one way to keep your underwear clean. this is another! ta-daa! try charmin ultra strong. it cleans so well and you can use up to four times less than the leading value brand. oh! there it is. thanks son. hey! [ female announcer ] charmin ultra strong has a duraclean texture that can help you get clean while still using less. and it's four times stronger versus the leading value brand. charmin ultra strong helps keep you and your underwear clean. we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra strong?

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welcome back. results of an autopsy conducted tuesday on the british nurse are just being released as part of a coroner's inquest taking place in london. the coroner said her body was found hanging by a scarf. according to heard today, the 46-year-old took her life after being fooled by australian radio deejays posing as queen elizabeth and prince charles. they wanted information about the duchess. the pregnant royal was in the hospital suffering severe morning sickness at the time. dan rivers has more from london.

what else can you tell us? >> the police also told the court she had some injuries to her wrist. she was found hanging in her neck by a scarf from a wardrobe door. they have not formally concluded it's suicide yet, but three notes were found in her belongings. so, it will be some weeks before they come to what sounds like a fairly inevitable conclusion. it's been adjourned until march. this is a normal process here. seems certain that she did commit suicide in light of putting that call through. >> what can you tell us about this woman? we know she's a mother and wife. what else do you know about her? >> well, she came to this country from india about ten years ago. she worked in this hospital for four years. she's got two teenage children, 17-year-old and a 14-year-old who lived separately from her with her husband who she saw on her days off, weekends. devoutly religious, catholic

from southern india. committed and professional to her career as a nurse. all of her friends paying nothing but glowing tributes to her. everyone incredibly shocked that she apparently committed suicide in light of this prank call. >> this is awful. what happens next? >> so what will happen next is the coroner and the police will continue to do their inquiries. the next hearing, as i say, will be in march. it was said in court by the coroner's office that there are no suspicious circumstances. there's no real suggestion that there was foul play or anyone else involved. it appears it was a suicide. but they will go through the formal process, the body may be released before then so they can have a funeral. the australian radio station is in difficulty. it's being investigated by the australian authorities looking into its broadcast license. the entire future of that radio

station may be in doubt. >> dan rivers live in london, thank you. >> awful story. >> breaks your heart. it is 17 minutes after the hour. let's look at the other headlines. christine romans is here with that. we're learning more about 22-year-old jacob roberts who killed two people inside a crowded portland area mall. an ex-girlfriend said roberts "his job last week and said he was moving to hawaii. police don't know why he decided instead to go on a shooting rampage before killing himself. on his facebook page roberts stamped the word canceled over the slogan follow your dreams. two men have been arrested for beating a mentally challenged homeless man on camera and posting it on facebook. you may find this video hard to work. investigators say they agreed to pay the man $20 if he agreed to get slapped. he was punched and knocked out cold. the incident happened back in september. a concerned facebook user alerted authorities once that

video was posted. >> pharmaceutical giant pfizer will pay $55 million for unproven claims in advertising for the acid reflux drug protonix. the case goes back for years. pfizer acquired wyeth in 2009 for $68 billions. it is 18 minutes past the hour. time for your early reads, in the "new york times," merry christmas iphone nation. google maps is back and possibly better than ever. the app is available for download with turn by turn navigation, bus and walking directions are back, along with street view. if you remember, apple replaced google maps with its own version of the app. the new software was slammed by users for warped 3-d effects and

misplacing landmarks. the review in the "new york times" of the new app is fantastic. >> now you won't get lost. >> now to "usa today" and the arizona republic, they are writing about this new way drug smugglers are trying to get marijuana into the u.s. by t-shirt launcher. you know those pressurized cannons used to launch t-shirts and other things at sporting events? u.s. border control agents say they found 33 cans filled with pot on the mexican side of arizona. they were launched 500 feet over the border fence. the pot is estimated to be worth $43,000. i wonder if the new laws legalizing marijuana will reduce the creativity in smuggling? >> i imagine so. coming up, a massive cyberattack planned on personal checking accounts. we are talking about personal accounts at 30 banks across the country. we'll have all the details after the break. in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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appropriate because we are mining yomine i minding your business this morning. the stock market down slightly yesterday. >> the clarity from ben bernanke is astonishing when you think that just 15 years ago people complained they didn't know what fed was doing. ben bernanke is telling you what the fed is doing and what it will do because of all the uncertainties in the world, they are trying to make this certain. ben bernanke crystal clear that the fed will do more stimulus measures, buying treasuries, continue mortgage-backed securities program. this is all the way through 2015. why? because they're setting these economic bars. they say they'regoing to keep helping the economy until the national jobless rate falls to 6.5% and an inflation limit of 2.5% this is new territory for the fed to be so explicit about what their unemployment and inflation targets are. the fed downgrading expectations for growth next year saying gdp in this country will be more

like 2.5% to 3%. and they think the jobless rate will be stuck here, about 7.4% to 7.7%. on the subject of the fiscal cliff, the fed saying that all of these measures from the fed would not be enough to undo the fiscal cliff. >> i hope it won't happen, if the fiscal cliff occurs, as i said many times, i don't think the federal reserve has the tools to offset that event. >> it was ben bernanke who first said fiscal cliff in a speech. another thing i want to bring to you, this report from mcafee warning about a potential widespread raid on your bank account by trojan malware in 2013. it's called projemalware target

your bank account to siphon money out of bank accounts from 30 of the biggest banks, including these and fidelity, e-trade, charles schwabb, pay pal. this is a big problem. this is the second security firm that warned they found the fingerprints of this just lying on your hard drive waiting to come back to bite you. so as you can imagine, the banks, the security firms, everyone scrambling to figure out how they'll be able to undo it, if they can. a warning there about this. >> so even if we beat the apocalypse, the fiscal cliff, we're all still hosts. >> suspend your money now. just kidding. >> barbara walters called it the elephant in the room. chris christie called it ridiculous. the fascinating question posed to new jersey's governor on national tv. [ engine revs ] ♪

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unpaid and undocumented. an intern with a criminal past faces deportation after he is found working for a u.s. senator. batter and fighting back. how a brave young woman used facebook to single out the man she says attacked her. and a weighty question. hear what new jersey's chris christie has to say when barbara walters asks is he too heavy to be president? >> quite an exchange. >> welcome back to "early start." happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. we still do not know why a 22-year-old sandwich shop clerk decided to put on a hockey mask

and open fire on holiday shoppers at a portland area mall but we are learning more about gunman jacob roberts and the two people he killed. an ex-girlfriend says he quit his job last week and announced he was moving to hawaii. instead he killed a dedicated hospice nurse and a respected former radio executive at a mall and critically wounded a 15-year-old girl. then he turned the gun on himself. dan simon live from suburban portland this morning. what else do we know about the gunman at this point? have they talked about any possible motive yet? >> good morning, john. no real osama bin lad obvious wa criminal history, but there have been disturbing hints about his psychological wellbeing, on his

facebook page you see the words follow your dreams with "canceled" over it. and he told friends he inherited lots of money and was moving to hawaii. but everyone seems generally shocked as the person they remember as this happy go lucky popular kid in high school could do such a heinous act. here is what an ex-girlfriend told abc. >> this is the last thing i would have ever expected. especially from him. he was just too sweet. never mean to anybody. >> we're also getting a better sense of the victims this morning. such heart break. you know, taken in this incident. 54-year-old cindy yuille ashgyu dedicated mother and hospice nurse. and 45-year-old steve forsythe,

a former co-worker is speaking out. >> he told me, felix there's two type of people in this world, dreammakers and dream breakers. and he said i'm a dreammaker go live out your dreams. we're also getting an update about the 15-year-old girl who was wounded during the attack. she is in the hospital but expected to survive. she was shot in the torso. the bullet bruised her lung but missed vital organs. months ago she survived another ordeal, when the van she was riding in was struck by a drunken driver. that driver was killed, but she survived. just incredible. john? >> she is a survivor. glad to hear she's in stable and improving condition. dan simon, thank you very much. 34 minutes past the hour. a missouri beating victim

fighting back on facebook. 23-year-old amber taylor posted this picture of her bruised and battered face on her boyfriend's facebook page while she was in the hospital. she said she wanted everyone to know that he beat her with a baseball bat after he found out she with you sending texts to another man. her boy friend, 19-year-old austin mccauley pleaded not guilty to second degree domestic assault. after weeks on the run and several days behind bars in guatemala, john mcafee is back in the u.s. this morning. mcafee says guatemalan authorities refused him asylum and kicked hem out of the country placing him on a flight to miami. after he arrived in the u.s., mcafee said he thought he would face more trouble on board. >> they said is john mcafee on board? come forward? they said we're here to help you, sir, please come with us. >> this is such a twisted story. mcafee says he is willing to

talk to authorities from belize about the death of his neighbor there, but he'll do the talking in the u.s. an embarrassing situation for senator robert menendez of new jersey, an unpaid intern was arrested who worked in his office. authorities say he is undocumented and a registered sex offender as well. elizabeth warren is on the fast track to join the senate banking committee after the steering committee recommended the incoming massachusetts senator for this position. the full senate still has to approve this warren has a notable background as a consumer advocate and pushed for much tougher regulations for wall street. you can add fascinating to the list of adjectives that have been used to describe new jersey governor chris christie. he has been chosen by barbara walters to be one of the most

fascinating people of 2012. listen to how christie responded when walters asked him why he's so overweight. >> if i could figure that out, i could fix it. >> do you try to diet? >> barbara, i had more diets and lost and gained back more weight than i care to count. there are people who say you couldn't be president because you're so heavy. >> that's ridiculous. people watched me the last number of weeks during hurricane sandy doing 18-hour days. >> in case you were wondering, the most fascinating person of the year is disgraced former cia director david petraeus. the assad regime taking the war on its own people to a whole new level. the new thing in play in syria coming up. jamie and matt have their christmas list --

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welcome back. the assad regime in syria appears to be pushing new limits in its battle to hang on to power. u.s. intelligence confirms that syria launched four short-range scud missiles from damascus into northern syria presumably trying to target rebels to overthrow the regime. this is the latest bid by assad to up the ante in this long civil war. jill dougherty is at the state department with more this morning. what do you have for us, jill? >> you know, the significance of this really is that with the gains that the rebels are making, these are lethal weapons, the scuds. that's a sign, as they have been making grounds, that the regime of bashar al assad is taking more and more serious weapons, more lethal weapons to counter that. these were fired towards the north, towards the turkish border. it was pointed out they came

close, but they didn't go over the border. that's significant because, remember, just last week, nato approved patriot missile -- anti-missile defenses that will be installed in turkey. and that, the united states will be doing, so will germany an the dutch. finally, another point to this, as we were talking with experts, you can put chemical weapons on scuds. that apparently has not been done but that was a concern. remember, just a week or two ago about the chemical weapons. so far it's conventional, but that's another worrisome thing. >> all right, jill dougherty, thank. we have new numbers out from the u.s. census bureau. the agency predicts by 2043 white people will no longer make up the majority of americans. the u.s. population currently stands at 315 million people. it's expected to cross the 400 million threshold in 2051.

officials say about 2060, the u.s. population will be considerably older and much more racially and ethically diverse. >> i was about to ask you how you feel about that. >> i'm fine with it. >> crazy question. >> i'm fine with it. we've been talking about how the world has been changing and the browning of america, we were talking about this on soledad's show that a lot of kids are mixed now, and the whole identification thing is fascinating. i think there's a big shift and change coming about. a lot of dialogue will happen, don't you think? >> let's talk about it. 42 minutes past the hour. incredible video to show you. surveillance video of a tornado lifting up a truck and tossing it around as if it were a toy. the story behind the pictures coming up. and some incredible swagger from nasa this morning. they're already saying "i told you so" to the folks who think the world is going to end on december 21st. it's really funny.nn ncer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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47 minutes after the hour right now. a perfect time for a look at the top stories. police don't know why 22-year-old jacob roberts killed two people in a mall on tuesday. an ex-girlfriend said the sandwich clerk claimed he was

quitting his job and moving to hawaii. and an update on the 15-year-old girl who was shot in the chest. she is in stable condition and is expected to recover after undergoing surgery. california governor jerry brown is being treated for prostate cancer. his doctors say his prognosis is excellent. brown was what doctors call early stage localized prostate cancer. he is being treated with a short course of radio therapy. the first section of the giant spire that will sit atop one world trade center in new york city has been hoisted into place. 17 sections will follow that will create a spire that will be 408 feet tall. when 1 world trade center is completed, it will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere. the next story shows you the sheer power of a tornado. the video is grainy, it's from gonzalez, louisiana. watch the circle at the top of the screen. you see that? that's a pickup truck.

>> no way. >> a truck? >> the tornado picked it up, threw it around like a toy. watch the circle again. that's pickup truck. the driver was shaken up. >> the driver was in it? >> yep. he walked away with minor cuts and bruises. quite -- quite a story to tell. a minuenorah hit by hurrica sandy in long island will be on display tonight. it survived a ten-foot storm surge that caused severe damage to temple israel in long beach, new york. it is seen as a symbol of hope for the holiday. a lot of different houses of worship up and down new jersey, long island, they're all kind of grappling, reaching out to other congregations to help them. it's been nice to see people help each other. >> it's great to see that at the white house, the menorah. thank you very much. 49 minutes past the hour. parts of the southwest looking at snow today finally. is this meteorologist rob

marciano joining us? >> i feel like we have to savor every minute with rob. >> please do. good morning. a little bit of snow across the southwest. you're right, it's been kind of a dry start to the winter for much of the inner mountain west. this will build some of the snow pack that has been yearning for the white stuff. there is your pulse of energy moving into southern california a bit of rain yesterday. claps of thunder in spots, more showers this morning. at the higher elevations of the san gabriel mountains, snow level at 4,000 feet that could bring 6 to 10 inches of snow there. in the mountains of utah, the san januauans of california, th will also be seeing snow, so they will take it for sure. in between the coasts, warm temperatures. once again, the above-normal temperatures continue across the southern and central plains. a cold slice of air trying to push through the northern tier, but that will have a hard time

getting too far down to the south. temperatures right around seasonable. you go east of the mississippi, 58 degrees in memphis. 60 in atlanta. 45 degrees in new york city. i'm still in awe of the fact that there was somebody in that pickup truck that went flying across the parking lot in gonzalez. that's near baton rouge. they're tough down there. a lot of cajuns in that part of the world. if anybody can survive a tornado in a pickup truck that goes trying across a parking lot, it's my friends in southern louisiana. there it is. boom. nicely done. happy hanukkah, guys on top of that note. i'm not sure which night it is. >> it was the fifth last night. on to number six. thank you very much, rob. always good to see you. we have to cherish these last few days we have with you. >> appreciate it. we have a packed hour ahead on "early start," including santa cop. an officer wraps a surprise in a ticket for a driver who's fallen on tough times. it is the feel-good story of the

morning. i tweeted this out this morning. people are trying to figure out what this guy did. we'll tell you. >> this is the feel-something else story of the morning coming up. cocaine breast implants. a pat-down at the airport you need to hear about. get out of town. >> but first what were you talking about and tweeting about in 2012? the top trend of the year was not this. ♪ .so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance.

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so welcome back to "early

start." it's 55 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with mr. john berman. we're looking at the top cnn trends on the web. what was the top trend? the very top trend of 2012? ♪ i will always love you >> i'm a little surprised. >> it was whitney houston. searches for news about her drowning death and for music after the tragedy got the most traffic on the web. her death generated more than 10 million tweets, and was the third biggest event on facebook in 2012. second on google's list, the most watched youtube video ever, of course gangnam style. third on the list, hurricane sandy. >> wow. you kind of forget the things that have forgotten in the year. >> serious stuff along with gangnam style. nasa is releasing its mayan calendar told you so it's a video a week early.

if you're watching this video, it means one thing, the world didn't end yesterday. >> so this was supposed to be out on december 22nd, the day after the mayan calendar allegedly predicts doomsday. the video goes on to explain why we are still here. but does the fact they released it early mean someone thinks we won't be around to see it later? >> nasa seems ticked off about this thing. they have been doing a lot to say the world isn't going to end on the 21st. more news about gangnam style, thank goodness -- gangnam style this time with an orchestra. ♪ that is korean a korean studentg the violin and dancing at the same time. he said it took about 45 minutes to make.

so much production value, you would think it would take longer to make. >> he has some good moves. the late-night talk shows, jimmy fallon is concerned about the latest missile lunch from north korea, and jay leno has had enough of the slumping l.a. lakers. >> here is major international news. japan and south korea are on high alert after north korea successfully launched a long-range rocket this morning. both countries are surprised by north korea's successful launch, but definitely not as surprised as north korea. it worked? it worked! again, the lakers lost again last night! this time to cleveland! that's like getting beat on "jeopardy" by honey boo boo. come on. >> not good. >> lakers are doing bad. >> how bad, jay?

>> you know a lot of laker players are giving each other clipper tickets for christmas this year. that's how bad. the lakers are so bad when mitt romney talks about the 40-some percent, he means dwight howard's if tfree-throw shootin. it's so bad, the lakers are referring to last year's lockout as the good old days. >> the celtics won last night, double overtime. go cs. "early start" begins right now. what made him snap? we're learning more about the mass gunman who opened fire in a crowded oregon shopping mall. also we have brand new pictures of the gunman to show you this morning. a serious scare for justin bieber. a report says police foiled a plot to kill him. and superstars for sandy relief, some of the music's greatest performers on stage for last night's all-star hurricane benefit. good morning. welcome to "early start."

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. >> it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. we start with a look into the life of the 22-year-old gunman who police say killed two people and critically wounded a teenager before committing suicide at a suburban portland mall. friends say jacob roberts was a pretty upbeat young man until about a week ago when he quit his job at a sandwich shop and told his ex-girlfriend he was moving to happen. that never happened. we are learning more about the three people he shot, one a rad executive were killed. and a 15-year-old girl who took a bullet to the chest made it out of surgery and is expected to survive. dan simon is live from suburban portland this morning. dan, what are you finding out about jacob roberts? >> reporter: hi, john. we've been looking into his background and looking into basically every aspect of his life. look at his family, his relationships, his work. really at this point nothing

adds up. authorities say they looked into his criminal background and found nothing, no violent past, so at this point it's a real mystery. now, you talked about facebook. we've got some new pictures of him on facebook. perhaps there's some clues about sport of his psychological well-being if you look at his facebook page. you'll see a notation, the slogan that says follow your dreams and then over it, it says cancelled. so what do we make of it? at this point not a whole lot to go on. there were reports that he was planning to move to hawaii. he was telling friends that he inherited a bunch of money. of course that's not true. everyone seems so genuinely shocked that this happened. they called him a happy-go-lucky kid, somebody who was popular in high school. his ex-girlfriend spoke out to abc. take a look. >> this is the last thing i would have ever expected, especially from him. he was just too sweet. never mean to anybody.

>> reporter: of course we're also focusing on the victims today. 45-year-old steven forsyth, a father of two, a respected executive here in the portland area, and of course 54-year-old cindy uhl was a mother, a dedicated hospice nurse and people who knew her are also speaking out. take a look. >> cindy was an amazing hospice nurse. she spent her life helping other people transition to the end of life. and cindy's family never got to say goodbye. >> reporter: 15-year-old christina is in the hospital. she's expected to survive. she's in stable condition. she took a bullet to the torso. it bruised her lung but did not hit any vital organs. >> nice to hear that she is recovering. dan simon, thanks very much.

getting a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff is looking more and more like it might take a christmas miracle. president obama and congressional republicans seem to be digging in on taxes, but a new poll shows an overwhelming majority of americans are siding with the president now. the republicans polled we are seeing a big shift, a majority now favor a compromise. brean breanna kehler is following this intense negotiation. we only have 19 days to go and it's looking like it's not going to happen. >> reporter: it's coming up fast. speaker boehner and the president are still talking, but while the speaker characterized his conversation with the president sunday as cordial, he described his conversation tuesday as frank and deliberate, so decipher that and you realize things that in the last couple of days have deteriorated. both the white house and the speaker were asked about reports

that the discussion on tuesday was intense, and that's something that the white house didn't dispute. >> i'd simply say that we confirmed the call. one in a series of conversations as well as a meeting, as you know, recently the president has had with the speaker aimed towards the effort of trying to find some common ground on this important issue. >> i didn't say it was tense. listen, there were some offers that were exchanged back and forth yesterday. the president and i had a pretty frank conversation about just how far apart we are. >> now, the bottom line here, sozoraida zoraida, the president is saying income tax rates for anything over a quarter of a million dollars must increase and the

republicans saying no and accusing the white house of not being specific on spending cuts and entitlement reforms. >> fed chief ben bernanke is saying we are already seeing the effects of the fiscal cliff. should we be alarmed by the tone right now? and there is an absolute drop-dead time to get a deal done? >> reporter: we're not there yet. in fact we have several days. i think really you're looking at christmas as a really important time for the president and the speaker to be coming to a deal that they can have buy-in from some house republicans and some house democrats on. that's really the issue. because it takes several days to take the parameters of a deal and put it into legislative language and put it through congress. the thing is it's hard to tell just how alarmed we should be. we should be because of what ben bernanke said, that is alarming, that the economy is already suffering. but you'll never eknow for at

least another week whether this is political posturing or really an impasse. >> thank you. other news this morning, that satellite that north korea launched may be tumbling out of control. that word comes to cnn from a u.s. official. it was carried aboard the long-range rocket that was launched yesterday. this is video from north korea tv claiming to be from the control room in north korea as the rocket blasted off. u.s. officials say that ground control has yet to send a key radio signal to the satellite that indicates there might be a potential problem. secretary of state hillary clinton has agreed to testify next week about the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. she will appear before the house and senate foreign affairs committee. a report by a state department review board on a terror attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans is expected to be released before clinton testifies next thursday. two men from new mexico have reportedly been arrested in a bizarre murder-for-hire plot. police say one of their targets, justin bieber.

krqe-tv says 41-year-old mark stayke and his nephew were planning to kidnap and kill four people, including two witnesses to a crime by a murder convict, along with bieber and his bodyguard. one of the greatest gatherings of musical talent ever on stage last night for a very good cause. a 12-12-12 concert for sandy. ♪ turn our power down while staten island drowns ♪ ♪ we went right on with the show ♪ >> i just want to hear this for a while. long island's billy joel with a little rewrite of his iconic song. the show also featuring another local boy. of course the boss. and jersey shore's bruce springsteen and paul mccartney

performed a new song that he wrote with nirvana. there were the rolling stones, the who, eric clapton, so many to mention here. there are estimates that it reached two billion people. it had raised $30 million in just ticket sales to help all of the misery that was caused by superstorm sandy. >> that lineup insane. >> and there's so much more. it's probably a shorter list of who was not there, right? >> and billy joel actually sounded fantastic. it's seven minutes after the hour right now. some other news we have autopsy results just released in the case of the nurse who committed suicide after a radio show pranked the hospital where the dutchess of cambridge was being treated. plus disturbing new video. this is just horrific. it's a homeless mentally challenged man that was knocked out. that video was then posted on facebook. those stories and much more after this quick break.

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brand new this morning from england, results of an autopsy conducted nurse on british nurse jacintha saldanha just released as part of a coroner's inquest taking place in england. her body was found hanging by a scarf. according to testimony heard today, 46-year-old saldanha took her life three days after being fooled by australian radio deejays posing as queen elizabeth and prince charles. the deejays wanted information about the dutchess of cambridge. the pregnant royal was suffering from severe morning sickness at the time. we have dan rivers live for us in london this morning. dan, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, confirmation that this appears to be a suicide. that's not the formal verdict yet. it may take many months for them to come to that formality, but all the circumstances point to it. as you say, she was found, according to the coroner's office, hanging by her neck by a

scarf from a wardrobe door, an accommodation that she used near the hospital just three days after that prank call was put through by her, which ended up resulting in confidential information being given to that australian radio show. a policeman also told the inquest today that she had some injuries to her wrist and at this time there are no suspicious circumstances. >> one of the big questions we've asked this whole time is why, what put her over the edge, what caused this. there have been reports of a suicide note found. any confirmation of this? >> reporter: there was, yeah. in fact three suicide notes. two found at the scene and another note found in her belongings later on. as i say, it all points to suicide. that's not the official verdict at this point. but the fact that they're saying there are no suspicious circumstances and the fact that she was found hanged with three notes, it would indicate that is

the case. >> dan, as you know there's been quite an uproar here in the u.s. over this whole situation. how are people in england reacting to the nurse's death and those deejays who called the hospital? >> reporter: well, completely bemused and horrified, i think most people, that this happened. in fact jacintha didn't actually betray any confidential details, she merely put the call through, but she was the most senior nurse on shift at the time. it was 5:30 in the morning. i'm sure they're all tired after a long night shift. people have sort of said how could she have fallen for these australians pretending to be the queen. clearly it was the end of a long shift. she put the call through and felt incredibly responsible. we don't know too much about the background, whether she had been suffering depression or anything before this. she's the mother of two teenage children. her husband and children living in the west of england and she sees them on weekends.

very religious, hard working, lots of glowing tributes from all her colleagues. >> so sad, of course. the contents of those suicide notes could reveal so much. dan rivers in london, thanks very much. 14 minutes past the hour. it's time to get you up to date. here's christine romans. let's start in oregon. we're beginning to learn more about 22-year-old jacob roberts, the sandwich shop clerk who killed two people and wounded a teenager. an ex-girlfriend said roberts quit his job last week, said he was moving to hawaii. it's not clear why he decided instead to go on a shooting rampage before committing suicide. on his facebook page, roberts stamped the word "cancelled" over the slogan "follow your dreams." two men have been arrested for allegedly beating a mentally challenged homeless man on camera and then posting it on facebook. you may find this video hard to watch. this happened in florida. investigators say they agreed to pay the man $20 if he agreed to get slapped.

he was punched and knocked out cold. this incident happened back in september. a concerned facebook user alerted authorities once it was posted. haunld aiz recalling more than 800,000 minivans and suvs. the recall affects 318,000 odyssey minivans, 259,000 pilot suv a, 230,000 acura mdx suv's made from 2003 to 2006. it lets owners remove keys from the ignition before putting the vehicle in park. it's caused several crashes and at least two reported injuries. honda recalled close to 400,000 cars for the same issue back in 2010. and lost tapes of dr. martin luther king jr. discovered hidden in a box in a closet in a couple's south carolina home. laura crosby says the tapes were passed down by her dad, a newspaper reporter. listen to the civil rights leader, he's talking about

accusations that he caused the race riots in detroit in the summer of 1967. >> as much as i preach about nonviolence and as much as i talk about love, i don't see how anybody would ever associate me with organizing a riot. >> wow. the family that found the tapes now in the process of preserving them with the help of historians. and two police officers in providence, rhode island, have given a little girl the best christmas gift ever. this story could have had a bad ending. 8-year-old anissa, who is autistic, wandered away from her home on sunday. thankfully she was found by the two officers a short time later, but her ipad was missing and she was devastated. the ipad was her window to communication. so the officers went to buy her a new one. >> when i saw her face and the

innocence on her, that's what really got myself and john. >> when employees at apple realized what the officers were doing, that they were buying her this ipad for the little girl, they donated it. >> it makes you fall in love with these officers. >> and you could see the smile on ms. face. >> thank you, christine. it is 17 minutes after the hour. time for early read. first from the newark star ledger and nj.com, they're reporting on the arrest of an undocumented immigrant who worked as an intern in the office of senator robert menendez. menendez said he had no idea about the young man who was from peru in the country illegally. menendez didn't know that. menendez didn't know that this intern was a registered sex offender. the intern was there only two months and the senator didn't know him. the young man faces deportation.

now to the "chicago tribune," my hometown. governor pat quinn and chicago mayor rahm emanuel reacted to a federal court ruling that happened this week. the court tossed out a long standing ban on carrying concealed weapons and ordered the legislature to revise state law and allow some people to carry concealed firearms. governor quinn insists some people must be barred from carrying weapons. mayor emanuel called the court's decision wrong headed. chicago has the highest crime rate in the nation so a lot of people are concerned folks will take matters into their own hands but some folks are saying that's a good thing because if somebody is attempting to rob you, for example, maybe you're going to think twice about somebody carrying a concealed weapon. >> the gun control debate on the streets of chicago. >> for an expanded look at our top stories, head to our blog and you can follow us on twitter or on facebook. john berman has all sorts of goodies for you. just search for early start cnn. >> make her happy, follow us.

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ben bernanke, christine romans has all the details for us. >> the driving force in the markets, but the stocks didn't drive very far, they barely moved yesterday and barely moved this morning, so i would call it flat this morning. ben bernanke giving some clarity on what the fed wants to do. the fed setting this threshold. they're going to keep stimulus going. they're not going to reverse this really unbelievable stimulus they have had into the economy until the national unemployment rate goes to 6.5% and the inflation rate -- as long as it doesn't go to 2.5%. they lowered their expectations for growth. the jobless rate, 7.4 to 7.7% for next year. that's not great growth. the economy hobbling along still. the fed says if we have the fiscal cliff, it will be worse. it's already affecting the economy. so that's what you're hearing from the fed. they're going to be doing a lot of purchases of bonds and mortgage-backed securities to keep money flowing into the

system. another interesting story this morning. >> we're scared we're going to lose all our money if we keep it in the bank. >> it's the second report from a cyber security firm about this massive planned attack in 2013 to siphon money from your bank account. that there's this trojan -- this malware called project blitz creek. mcafee is calling is a credible threat. this malware lying dormant in the u.s. financial system scheduled to go active spring 2013 and targeted some of the biggest names out there. jpmorgan chase, wells fargo, capital one. also some of your investment accounts. fidelity, e-trade, charles schwab, paypal. this is something that the cyber security industry is watching. they have been monitoring these hacker web chat rooms in russia and at first they thought it was maybe some kind of a -- i don't know, they thought that it was fake and then started to looking into where whether we have this stuff on our systems.

>> what are they saying, to make us feel safe? >> well, the government says -- there's no comment from the government. the department of homeland security is not saying anything. one bank says they take their security seriously. other banks haven't returned our phone calls. usually they don't advertise much about what they're doing or thinking about these malware things. they don't like to antagonize the hackers and they clearly are going to try to fix it. >> so what's the one thing we need to know about our money. >> we'll find out important data about how much people spent in november, the retail sales report. economists think it rose maybe 0.4% in november. retailers really want you to keep spending the rest of the year. they want to make sure you keep spending your money into december. this is my daily reminder that don't spend money you don't have. >> you've seen mixed reports on the confidence. >> we really have. and ben bernanke said household confidence is starting to wane. businesses aren't spending money because of the fiscal cliff. so it's so elusive. it's almost right there.

next year could be a good year if we can get some of these uncertainties settled. >> thank you so much, christine. appreciate it. 26 minutes past the hour. without it, a lot of iphone users were lost without it. literally. the app that just made a big comeback. switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. he opened up jake's very private world. at first, jake's family thought they saved ziggy, but his connection with jake has been a lifesaver. for a love this strong, his family only feeds him iams.

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the oregon gunman unmasked. new pictures of the man who

opened fire in that crowded shopping mall. back by popular demand. an iphone app that was sorely missed by a lot of you. and this story is fantastic. to protect, surf and inspire. the story of a texas police officer who gave out much more, much more than just a traffic ticket. >> police officers rule this morning on our show, right? >> this is a great story. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we still don't know a motive but we're learning more about the 22-year-old sandwich shop clerk who decided to put on a hockey mask and open fire on holiday shoppers at a portland area mall. an ex-girlfriend says the usually upbeat jacob roberts quit his job last week and announced that he was moving to haechlt he never made it. instead he headed to the clackamas town center mall, killed a dedicated hospice nurse and respected radio executive and critically wounded a 15-year-old girl as well and then turned the gun on himself. dan simon is live from suburban portland this morning.

what else are you finding out about the gunman? >> hi, zoraida. his name just surfaced less than 24 hours ago so things still a bit early. when you look at his background, you delve into his family life, you look at his relationships, his work, at this point haven't seen really any obvious signs that he was capable of committing this atrocity. perhaps you might look at his facebook page and might say there were some psychological problems there. there's this thing there that says "follow your dreams" and it's cancelled. it says cancelled, there's a stamp over it. there are reports that he inherited a bunch of money. he was telling friends that he was going to move to hawaii. of course none of that's true. in terms of the peaople we talked, to nobody has said anything batted about him, including this ex-girlfriend who spoke out to abc. >> this is the last thing i would have ever expected, especially from him. he was just too sweet. never mean to anybody.

he had his plane ticket. he was ready to go. and then this happened and it just makes me think if hawaii was even in the back of his mind. >> reporter: well, he seemed to be living in a fantasyland in terms of hawaii. you know, we're also getting a better sense of the people who were killed, the two adult victims. 54-year-old cindy yuille, the mother, respected hospice nurse, and 45-year-old steven forsyth. an executive here in the portland area. a former co-worker remembered him this way. >> he told me, felix, there's two types of people in this world. there's dream makers and there's dream breakers. and he said i'm a dream maker. go live out your dreams. >> reporter: and then there's the 15-year-old girl in the hospital who was injured during this attack. she took a shot right in the torso. she bruised her lung, but it

missed any vital organs. she is expected to survive. just months ago she also survived an ordeal where the van she was riding in was hit by a drunken driver. that drunken driver was killed and everybody in the van survived. but boy, just a terrible ordeal for her and everyone in this community. >> yeah, she's a little fighter there. dan simon live for us from suburban portland this morning. thank you so much. we have a cnn exclusive right now as we profile a heroic teenager caught in the crossfire of syria's civil war. his name is abdullah. that's him on the blood-soaked streets ignoring gunfire, risking his life to save a complete stranger. he is a ray of light in a sea of despair. this story may be hard for some of you to watch, but it is important, it needs to be told and it is a gripping, gripping tale. here's arwa damon, one of the most powerful things you will see today. take a look. >> reporter: a fighter slithers

across the street. yards away a woman lies motionless. she's been shot by a sniper. her rescuer is not a relative, nor a neighbor. he's never met her. abdullah is just 17. he knew he had to save the woman or die trying. when we met him later, he tells us we had a feeling that she was still alive. we wanted to save her, to get her to a hospital. as he crawled closer, he can feel her hand. she is shaking. cover him, cover him someone shouts.

other fighters have cover fire. i said to myself, if i die, it's god's will that i die next to this woman, he tells us. finally, he makes a run for it. and the rebels drag the woman back. the woman and her son were walking right down the street there. rebel fighters shouted at them to stay away, but it was too

late. aleppo is crisscrossed with similar sniper alleys. some are known but others do not reveal themselves until the first shot has been fired. despite abdullah's efforts, the woman dies. her son recovered. don't die now, don't die today, he pleads. answer me, mom. answer me. she's not dead, she's not dead, he says, as he collapses. abdullah is left wondering whether her life could have been saved if he'd reached her sooner. until recently, he worked at a bakery. now, like thousands of young syrians, he puts his life on the line. i am not a hero, i am just like anyone else, he tells us. and we're left to wonder, how many similar acts of courage go

unrecorded every day in syria, and how many innocents are lost. arwa damon, cnn. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno.

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soledad o'brien joins us with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> good morning. heading overseas to bring jobs and businesses to the united states. delaware's governor will join us to talk about how he's courting asia to our shores. and then rebuilding after sandy. why is there a holdup in federal aid? should some of those neighborhoods be rebuilt at all? some people are asking that question. we'll talk with shaun donovan, who's in charge to the response to the storm. would you do genetic testing

on your baby to find out if there would be problems in your baby's future? it's a controversial article on the cover of "time" magazine asks if knowing too much is a very dangerous proposition. we'll talk about that and much more at the top of the hour. >> it sounds like the movies, but it's here. >> yeah, it really is. parts of the southwest looking at some snow today. that's right, snow. it is december, after all. we're joined by meteorologistma. >> the intermountain west hasn't seen a whole lot this winter. it is winter. we consider december 1st to be the beginning of winter because it does start to feel that way usually. some rain across parts of southern california. they'll take it this time of year. some snow in the higher elevation just to the east of l.a. at the 4,000 and 5,000 foot mark. could see 6 to 10 inches of snow. flagstaff could see 6 or so

inches. 12 inches, a foot plus in some of the san juans of southwest colorado. telluride, durango, purgatory, you might get a little bit as well. east of there and we're looking at above average temperatures. the plains have seen not much of a winter. a little rain across parts of north carolina right now, at least the coastal sections. that will move offshore and the rest of the east coast looks pretty good today. temperatures will be pretty seasonal. dallas 65 degrees, 45 in chicago and 45 degrees in new york city. looking ahead towards next week, this is one of our computer models that kind of peers into the future. whenever we get a couple of zeros near the east coast, which is what we've got going on here tuesday and wednesday, that's when things could get a little bit interesting in the form of a nor'easter. right now it just looks like mostly rain, but we'll see what happens as we get towards next week. guys, back up to you. >> rob marciano, thanks very much. we're taking a look at the

top cnn news story trending on the web this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton chosen by barbara walters as one of her ten most fascinating people of 2012. it's the third time that she has made the list. of course walters pressed her about running for president in 2016. >> i've said i really don't believe that that's something i will do again. i am so grateful i had the experience of doing it before, but, you know, i think there are lots of ways to serve, so i will continue to serve. >> but that's not no. >> no, i don't believe i will. hmm. so the person chosen by walters as the single most fascinating person of 2012 is disgraced former cia director david petraeus. >> the hillary clinton thing is so fascinating. she'll have to answer this question so many times, but every time she answers, she adds doubt. >> didn't she say no the first time out? >> no. she has actually never said no, ever, ever, ever, so the door is

open a tienny little bit. also smuggling taken to the extreme. a woman lands in barcelona on a flight. then the telltale signs, bandages and blood under her implants. doctors extracted these bags from her breasts containing three pounds of cocaine. my goodness. >> that is such a bad thing for so many reasons. >> she, by the way, now in jail. >> all right. our long navigational nightmare, folks, is over. google maps is back and possibly better than ever. it's available for downlord with turn-by-turn navigation, subway, bus and walking directions are back along with street view. if you remember apple replaced google maps with its own version of the app. the new software was slammed by users for warped 3-d and

misplaced landmarks. some were misplaced as far as 70 miles away from their actual location but this is getting rave reviews. you were probably up last night, billions watching the 12-12-12 concert for hurricane sandy relief in madison square garden. the bill included everyone famous on earth including billy joel, bruce springsteen, the who, so many, many more. final figures are not available, but ticket sales raised $30 million alone. >> that's fantastic. listen to this, a 13-year-old's battle for a gender neutral easy bake oven for her little brother will take her to the toy maker's headquarters. they have been invited to meet with the easy bake team. hasbro is sending the message that women belong in the kitchen while men work. she started a change.org campaign to encourage hasbro to create an oven for both boys and girls. >> good for her. >> i love this, absolutely love it. so you're good with that.

if your boys wanted an easy bake oven, you're fine with that? >> sure. there's a little play kitchen that they use all the time. someone's got to cook, because it ain't gonna be me. >> prepping them for the future there. coming up, one driver's personal confession to a police officer during a traffic stop. we'll have the inside story of how both men drove away richer in more ways than one. [ woman ] dear cat, your hair mixes with pollen and dust. i get congested. but now, with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breath freer, so i can love the air. [ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. [ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. alrightcharlie! photo. stop punching your brother. he asked me to! hey, sarah, stop texting, and look at your dad. i can do two things at once. ok, well just look at your dad, so he can get this shot. i'm going to be a ninja! (chaos & noise) got it. what? yeah, i got it, come here. nobody move, especially you, charlie. how'd you do that? automagically. let's eat. combine pictures with best face.

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good morning to you, dallas. it's 43 degrees right now. oh, listen to this, do you have berman's mike open? were you singing for us this morning? >> that's the dallas theme song.

>> we're really excited to be in dallas this morning. why? listen to this. being pulled over by the police usually means trouble, right? but for this driver, it meant an act of kindness. after hayden carlo told the officer that he didn't have the money for his car inspection, the officer handed him a citation for the expired inspection sticker with a $100 bill wrapped inside of it. the officer is preferring to remain anonymous, but his plano, texas, department is speaking out for him. david tille joins us now, plano police department spokesman. david, how did you find out about this, this random act of kindness that happened? >> actually we were contacted by this gentleman's grandfather. he had contacted the police department and wanted to let us know exactly what this officer had done. it touched his heart. it was something that meant a lot to him as well as the individual that received the citation. and he just wanted to let us know because a lot of these type

of random acts never get reported to us. >> so walk me through exactly what happened. >> well, basically it was his registration rather than an inspection is what it was. the officer had seen the individual operating his vehicle with an expired registration, pulled him over, made contact with him, advised him of the violation. and ultimately issued him a citation for the expired registrati registration, which this officer knows as long as he gets the registration taken care of, they will dismiss this ticket. so the most it's going to cost him is a very, very minor filing fee, processing fee is all it is. the officer, you know, inquired as to why he hadn't had his registration taken care of and the young man told him that basically it was either register his car or put food on his family. he's a young individual that has a young family. and times are tough right now. we recognize that. and that's when the officer decided to -- you know, that the

right thing to do was to do the act that he did. whenever he issued him the citation, fold el up in the citation was a $100 bill. >> what is the officer saying? is this something that he does often? >> you know, this is -- you know, you talk around and you speak with different officers around there. this is not something that is uncommon. not only in our department but in law enforcement. it's just you never really hear about these acts. i don't know as far as how often he's done this in the past. i know this individual personally. he is a very, very upstanding not only officer but human being. and this is just something that he felt inspired to do. you have sympathy. we have a job to do and our job is to go out and enforce the laws of the state of texas, but at the same time we also are considered to be problem solvers and care takers in our community. >> that's fantastic. >> and we have to act in that route as well. >> it's very rare that you hear that, care takers.

we're really excited about that. so this young man that got the $100, did you hear from him? did he get his violation taken care of? >> actually my understanding, i have not spoke with him personally, but i did speak to his grandfather and, yes, he actually used that money to get his registration taken care of so that he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. >> i just want to mention one more thing because we keep on saying this and actually we love stories like this. officers all over the country seem to be doing this. it happened here in new york. a city police officer who bought a homeless man a pair of boots and now we have this incredible story. so congratulations to you. i'm glad that you spent some time with us this morning sharing it and we wish we could find out the name and meet the guy who did this. wouldn't that be fantastic. >> yeah. unfortunately, as i said, he did this for his own -- for the right reason. he wasn't looking for any recognition. and he wants to continue to remain that way. that's the type individual he is. he just wants to -- he did it -- he made a decision on his own

and it was for that sole purpose of this individual. >> thank you, officer tilley, for sharing his story. spokesman for the plano police department. nice to be with you this morning. >> thank you very much going out to him, whoever he is. coming up,today's best advice from actor frankie munoz, that's coming up. and the question barbara walters called the elephant in the room and how chris christie answered it on national television. [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat.

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but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. the clock is ticking. 58 minutes after the hour, as always, we wrap it up with best advice. here's chrischristine.

>> and a good one this morning. it comes from actor frankie muniz. >> the best advice i ever received, and i tried to stick to every single day is just to be appreciative and enjoy your life that you're living and don't take anything for granted. >> yeah. >> i'm so grateful for the two of you. >> so this guy just survived a mini stroke. >> at the age of 26. >> and he is doing great. he is the most upbeat, friendliest, happiest guy i have ever met. he is fantastic. we love him. that is all for "early start." >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning. welcome, everybody chbl. our starting point this morning new information on a gunman who went on a ramge